Category: Vegan

It’s February first! Time for a new adventure in My Year of 40. But first, some closing thoughts on my month of veganism.

Bowls are my number one meal as a vegan. They’re an easy and satisfying vehicle for vegetables, and they’re quick to throw together. They’re also endlessly adaptable- toss anything you want in them. Roughly speaking, a bowl “recipe” would include a whole grain (or not), a legume (or not) and lots of veggies (cooked- otherwise we’re just making a salad). Add some enhancements- maybe some seeds, avocado, or nuts- and then flavorings- aminos (see below), sesame oil, vinegar- you get the picture- and you’re off to the races.

Aminos make everything taste better. I first discovered Coconut Aminos two years ago: vegan, gluten- and soy-free, they’re your new best friend. I put this stuff on everything: grain bowls, salads, raw or cooked vegetables, veggie burgers. It’s the bomb. A little salty, a little umami, a lot delicious. More widely available, but not soy-free, is Bragg Aminos, which is nearly as good.

Quinoa is a breakfast food. I need to start my day out with some protein, which has been more challenging as a vegan (gone are the eggs; gone is the Greek yogurt). Luckily, there’s quinoa. Besides being the only “grain” (actually a seed) that’s a complete protein, it plays well with both sweet and savory foods. While I eat it for lunch or dinner in one of my veggie bowls, at breakfast I pair it with apples, cinnamon, walnuts, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a bit of almond milk.

Within limitation, there is freedom. Knowing that I had a narrower spectrum of foods to work with forced me to be more creative. Maybe this is no longer the case after many months, or years, of being vegan, but in a one-month timeframe, I felt forced to think outside my usual food norms to arrive at meals and snacks that were satisfying. And I enjoyed the challenge.

In the end, I’m not entirely parting with veganism. For me, right now, there seems to be no better way to stay motivated to eat so many vegetables, while also forcibly avoiding foods that aren’t good for me.¹ For now, I’m going to be “88% vegan.” Here’s how I came up with that:

(3 meals + 2 snacks per day) * 7 days per week = 35 eating occurrences per week. If I have 4 non-vegan meals per week, then I’ll be 31/35 = 88% vegan.

Which leads me to February, and my “try something new” for this month. In February, I’ll be trying:

Landmark Bay Area Restaurants²

Frankly, this is a compelling reason for me not to be 100% vegan in February.³

First up: a surprise restaurant for date night with Graham. Stay tuned!

¹I’m talking to you, butter.

²That I haven’t already tried, or perhaps that goes without saying.

³With apologies to my vegan cheerleaders. 88% is still about 500% more vegan than I used to be.

It is hard (for me) to be vegan and not feel like I’m either a) inconveniencing people or b) trying to stand out. I don’t intend to do either, but most of the time, I feel as though I am doing both. My most recent example happened this evening. I was out with a group of women¹ at a pizza restaurant. Scanning the menu, I knew I would not be able to share food socially with anyone at the table (inconveniencing people). Then I felt the need to apologize for that (standing out). Then, I had to ask my waitress to “hold the bacon” on my salad (well, perhaps that wasn’t so egregious).

And restaurants are actually the easy part- they deal in special requests all the time. Eating at other people’s houses: much harder. You don’t want to be “that” guest- the one your hosts have to go to extra trouble for. This weekend we went to our friends’ house for dinner- vegan friends!- so we felt easy, not trouble at all. But the vast majority of my friends and family are not vegan.

Is it just part and parcel of any special diet? Perhaps. But it feels more uncomfortable to me to be dogmatic about veganism than it would if, say, I had a gluten or a peanut allergy. In the case of veganism, I’m making a conscious choice to inconvenience others for what amounts to my own pleasure. My sister Beth and I chatted about this (she is pescatarian and gluten-free) and her approach is to stick to her diet unless she feels she is burdening someone. Seems like a fair and relaxed approach to me.

People have been asking me whether I’ll stick with this after January. Short answer: no. Long answer: yes, in part. I think I’m going to try a partial-vegan diet, such as VB6 or vegan five days a week. I don’t want to go whole hog (embrace the pun) back to animal products; I feel so healthy right now and am not yet ready to give that up. At the same time, I can’t envision being a strict, 100% vegan; I don’t think there’s anything wrong, either health-wise or animal rights-wise, with occasional animal products, carefully chosen. I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s what I cooked this week:

Thai Coconut, Coriander and Broccoli Soup by Donna Hay (via Epicurious). This was delicious but a bit too spicy for the kids (sigh). I replaced the water with vegetable broth and served the soup with a bit of shredded unsweetened coconut. Perfect for winter- warm, healthy, and satisfying. Grade: A

Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower Bites by Rhea Parsons (via One Green Planet). We already have a go-to roasted cauliflower recipe that we love, but this blog is not about sticking with the old, tried-and-true things.² This recipe is supposed to remind you of hot wings. They were indeed hot- even for Graham, which is saying something- but I found them fairly addictive. I’ll be making these again and will use less hot sauce. Grade: A-

Walnut Banana Bread by Mark Bittman. I usually love it when recipes call for unusual ingredients, but in this case, the cooked brown rice (!) had a strange and not wholly pleasant chew. It’s hard to get banana bread wrong IMO, but this recipe did just that. Grade: C-

Curried Tofu Scramble – a method, more than a recipe, and one that works well. The curry powder lends a surprising sweetness to the veggies and tofu. If you’re anti-tofu, you could just as easily throw in chickpeas or other sturdy beans in its place. See recipe below. Grade: A

Directions:
Drain any water from the tofu, press it between a couple of paper towels to release excess moisture, then crumble into small pieces.
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the garlic and onion, and sauté for just a few minutes, until they soften up. Stir in the curry powder and then the tofu and broccoli. Cover and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the tofu is thoroughly heated and broccoli is tender. Add the spinach and stir for a minute or so, until it wilts and collapses, then stir in the salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. If you want a brighter curry flavor to come forward, sprinkle with more curry powder. If the flavors aren’t quite popping, add more salt a couple of pinches at a time.

Serves 4 to 6.

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¹Moms, to be more precise. Fellow kindergarten moms. Moms that I don’t even know that well, around whom I was trying to be “winning.” Not sharing a pizza with these moms = antisocial = not winning.

No, it’s not giving up cheese. Or bacon. Or half-and-half. (Truth be told, I barely miss the first two. Half-and-half: that’s another story.)

It’s not forgoing eggs. (But I can tell you right now, if I could add one thing back into my diet, it would be eggs.)

To understand what is hardest for me about veganism, you’ll need a sense of my typical day.

During the week, I head to work early in the morning. I return home in the evening, just in time to eat dinner, nurse the baby, and put the big kids to bed. I am lucky: I come home to a home-cooked meal, prepared by my husband or our au pair. This is also by necessity. If it weren’t this way, I wouldn’t get to eat until 8pm at the earliest, which might seem quite reasonable to many of you, but when I’m trying to get to bed by 9:30 (with lights’ out by 10), an 8pm dinner is just too late.¹

Since going vegan, unfortunately, I no longer have dinner waiting for me when I get home. Instead, I have walked in to find grilled flank steak, roasted chicken over green beans, cheeseburgers, or sausage and greens soup. These are all foods that I would have devoured just weeks ago, and they are happily consumed by the other members of my household (minus the baby). Unable to eat these foods, I scramble to throw together a dinner. Some nights this is easy, if I have the raw materials ready to go, or if I have leftovers from something I cooked on the weekend. Other nights, vegan dinner prep might take a half hour or more, time that I don’t have to give.

The low point of my vegan week arrived when I came home to the smell of freshly baked bread. I felt like Winnie the Pooh, eager beyond measure for his honey pot.² Alas, Graham had followed a recipe that used milk. To be ravenous, and to follow my nose to a loaf of homemade bread (still warm), and not to be able to eat any because of a diet of my own choosing? Torture.³

In the short term, I will have to be more diligent about buying and prepping over the weekend, so that weeknight dinners come together easily. Over the long term, this feels like a pretty big strike against veganism. Graham won’t be going vegan any time soon ever, and as long as my schedule remains this busy during the week, I’m not sure I’ll have the energy to be the lone vegan. It’s a bummer, really. I haven’t made any decisions about how I’ll eat after January, but I do know that I feel great, I’m eating far more vegetables and legumes than I normally do, and I’m actually enjoying what I eat. Stay tuned…

Here’s what I cooked this week:

Curried Spinach and Tofu from Mark Bittman. This is vegan saag paneer, and I was skeptical before making it (given how much I love saag paneer). YUM- surprisingly delicious. I ate this four times over the course of the week and never tired of it. Grade: A

Creamy Thai Carrot Soup by Minimalist Baker. My kids liked this and had fun guessing the secret ingredient (peanut butter). I thought it was fine, but I think I’d take regular (PB-free) carrot soup over this one, nine times out of ten. Grade: B+

Mushroom Nut Burgers by Mark Bittman. Bittman rarely leads me astray, but this one doesn’t do justice to mushrooms, or to veggie burgers more generally. The flavor was decent, but the texture was off (too wet). I’m on the hunt for a better veggie burger recipe. Suggestions? Please leave them in the comments! Grade: B-

Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. These were a big hit when I brought them to work. I think they are slightly oily but the flavor is delicious. See recipe below. Grade: A

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Add the almond flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl of a food processor and mix well. Add the honey, molasses, vanilla, and coconut oil o the mixture. Process until it becomes a dough. Transfer to a bowl, add the chocolate, and mix. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are set and the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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¹Yes, I am incredibly unhip. I used to make fun of my parents for having this exact same schedule, and now I can’t function any other way. But since I know I’ll be up with the baby at least once, if not two or three times, each night, if I don’t at least aim for a 10pm-6am sleep schedule, I’m sunk.

I am one week into my month of veganism. In some ways, this diet has gone as expected: I’m eating more vegetables. I spend more time reading food labels. I get less enjoyment out of my daily coffee.¹

But there have been some surprises, too. My favorite breakfast cereal? Not vegan.² Weight loss (after months of post-partum struggles)? Surprisingly effortless (more to come on this topic in a subsequent post). But the most surprising discovery of all?

Being vegan is easy.³

I had imagined it would be difficult, and I’m clearly not alone: when I tell people about my month of veganism, the number one comment I hear is, “that’s got to be hard.” And if we mean “hard” as in “hardship,” then yes, there is some hardship involved (see my coffee comment above). But if we mean “hard” as in “challenging,” well, in many respects, it’s easier to be vegan than omnivorous.

Why? Because we face too many choices in our daily lives. And too many choices cause more unhappiness and more stress, not less. (See this article and this one.) Veganism reduces choice. Whether at a restaurant, or at the office, or in your home kitchen- there are fewer options available to vegans. So you go with what you’re “allowed” to eat, and the choice is made.

No more taxing my brain at restaurants as I scan a menu with endless, delicious-sounding options. I just hone in on the few vegan choices (sometimes only one) and go with it. At work, I turn a blind eye to the homemade banana bread that someone’s mom made (with eggs and butter, assuredly); I ignore the salami, cheese and yogurts in the fridge; I know I’m not allowed to eat these, so they don’t even enter into my consideration set. If I’m hungry, I know exactly what my (few) options are: carrots with hummus or peanut butter; fruits; Kind bars.

Granted, this “easy” aspect of veganism is also part of a trade-off, and many of us would gladly accept the pain of more choices if it means we get, say, half and half in our coffee.

Still, this first week has gone tremendously well, and so far I’m rather enjoying my veganism.

Dark Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Bowl from Minimalist Baker. I messed this up by just making regular quinoa and then mixing the ingredients in (instead of cooking the quinoa in coconut milk & almond milk) but it was still delicious. Grade: A

Crowd-Pleasing Vegan Caesar Salad from Oh She Glows. No idea whether this is “crowd-pleasing” because I made it only for myself, but I’ve eaten it the past three days, so that should tell you how much I like it. Grade: A+

Ultimate Vegan Mac and Cheese from The Glowing Fridge. This is cool because the “cheese” sauce is made from vegetables, but it comes out the same bright orange color as Kraft Mac & Cheese. My kids loved this and even Graham called it “a winner.” Grade: A-

¹ Soy creamer, almond milk, coconut milk, coconut creamer: I have tried them all. They don’t live up to half and half.

² Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal. It has whey in it. Who knew?

³ Only in some ways. Being vegan is also hard, which is the topic of my next post.

I’m vegan for January. Because: why not? I’ve never been vegan before. I’ve been veg-curious for a long time, though.

I love to cook (as anyone who knows me could tell you). And I’ve enjoyed dabbling in vegan cooking when hosting vegan friends or family. And I’ve often thought- I could do this. I could be vegan. But nothing has prompted me to try it before.

Don’t get me wrong- I’m a happy omnivore. In fact, I’ve been seduced enough by the low-carb style diets that my meat consumption has probably increased in recent years. On certain days, nothing calls to me quite as much as a cheeseburger. On others, I might yearn for a grilled piece of salmon, or some chicken thighs from Sol Food. However, I certainly go days without eating any meat, and I don’t suffer for it. I suspect that my bigger challenge in going vegan will be giving up dairy and eggs.¹

I’m excited about this month of veganism: to see how my body will feel, to know what vegans go through on a daily basis, to have a set of rules to follow when making dietary choices (restrictions are comforting, in their way). Not to mention the benefits to our environment, and (one could argue) the animals themselves.²

I’ve survived day one, although I’ve already made my first rookie mistake: going to someone else’s house for dinner, knowing full well that the main course would not be vegan, and forgetting to bring the portobello I had bought just for this occasion. Omnivores 1, Jill 0.

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¹A reasonable estimate of my egg consumption over the past year would be, say, 500 eggs. I eat 2 eggs for breakfast most days of the week, and if I don’t have them at breakfast, I’ll often have one or more at lunch or dinner. So, yeah, this part of my vegan diet will be hard.

²One could also argue that animals benefit from our carnivorous ways, as without our desire to eat them, many of them would not be born and raised in the first place. But this is not the blog to argue for or against, merely to try.